The free Firefox 3 internet browser was launched a few days ago on June 17th 2008 and during the first 24 hours after
its launch achieved remarkable acceptance world wide, with the browser downloaded to more than 8 million computers. Even
more impressive was the number of downloads to Lithuania. With more than 300,000 copies of the free Firefox browser
downloaded, Lithuania topped the world by a huge margin for the number of downloads per head of population, exceeding by
a factor of almost 10 those of its nearest rivals, USA and Germany. Even in absolute numbers it was outranked by only
6 other countries in the world, each with a much larger population, with the USA (3.2 million downloads) and Germany
(836,000 downloads) leading the way. The Firefox browser can be freely downloaded and is becoming very popular among the
world`s internet users. (As of Friday night, June 27th, Lithuania’s downloads of Firefox 3 stood at 411,000 and
Australia’s at 359,000.)
The Lithuanian Firefox downloads are indicative of the huge surge in IT technology usage in Lithuania in recent times.
Lithuania is second in the world for mobile phone penetration, with about 5 million subscribers out of a population of

3.5 million! A few years ago Lithuania was first in the world in this area. The IT sector as a whole grew by more than one
third in the Baltic States in 2007 and Lithuania is now on the list of countries with the fastest growth in the IT
sector. Broadband speeds of 100 Mb/s are now readily available. WiMax should be available in the (northern) autumn.
Lithuania is now planning to host the world Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in 2010. The IGF has been established to
support the United Nations with issues regarding internet governance. The first IGF meeting was held in Athens, Greece,
in 2006. This year it will held in India.
Another high-tech success story for Lithuania is in the area of scientific lasers, in which Lithuania has captured about
10% of the world market. In some sectors Lithuania supplies more than 50% of this market. Lithuania’s expertise is in
the area of picosecond and femtosecond lasers and Lithuanian firms are now expanding into the industrial area market as
well.